Weeks after arresting the chief financial officer (CFO) of Reliance Power Limited, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested another man, Amar Nath Dutta, as part of a money-laundering probe linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee of Rs 68 crore involving Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies.
A source with the ED said Dutta has claimed before the agency that he provides consultancy services in trade financing. “In the current case, Kolkata resident Dutta played an active role along with Ashok Pal and Partha Sarathi Biswal, for providing a fake bank guarantee,” the source added.
Dutta was summoned for questioning at the agency’s Delhi headquarters on Thursday and arrested. The ED, which alleged that he played a crucial role in the fraud, has been granted his custody for four days.
In August, the agency arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, the MD of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), for allegedly arranging fake bank guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore that were provided by Reliance Power Ltd for a tender under the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI). In October, the ED arrested Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal in connection with the case.
“The probe has revealed that BTPL fraudulently arranged and submitted fake bank guarantees of Rs 68.2 crore, along with forged SBI endorsements and fabricated confirmations for a SECI tender. For providing this bank guarantee, Rs 5.40 crore was received by BTPL from Reliance Power Ltd,” the ED had alleged in a statement earlier.
The central agency is investigating allegations of illegal diversion of loans worth around Rs 3,000 crore disbursed by Yes Bank to the group’s companies between 2017 and 2019. It is also examining whether there was quid pro quo involved in the loan — specifically, if bribes were paid to bank officials, including Yes Bank promoters. On July 24, multiple ED teams carried out searches at over 35 locations in Mumbai, including the premises of BTPL.
